Karla Huston

Karla Huston

BIO:2017-2018 Wisconsin Poet Laureate, Karla Huston, lives in Appleton, Wisconsin. Huston’s poems find their roots in the stories people tell—those memories and perceptions, personal and cultural mythologies which define us as human. From ancient Greek gods to Hollywood movie stars, Huston’s poems explore a wide variety of subjects, but frequently return to topics related to aging and women.

The author of eight chapbooks of poems, the latest Grief Bone, (Five Oaks Press), and a full collection A Theory of Lipstick (Main Street Rag Publications), Huston’s work has garnered many awards, including a Pushcart Prize for the poem “Theory of Lipstick.” She received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association for her collection of the same title. Her writing has earned residencies at Ragdale Foundation as well as the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. Her chapbook, Flight Patterns won the Main Street Rag Chapbook Contest in 2003. Huston has also been awarded three Jade Rings (one for fiction, two for poetry) from Wisconsin Writers’ Association.

My mother clinking plates in the sink.My father sits in the big chair,sifting through news, the crackleof the paper as he straightenspages, the click-whoosh of his Zippo,the sizzle of the cigaretteas it catches fire, smoke driftinglike vines, nearby, the lamp a floatingcone of light, me floating behind itto see where the cord led, small fingersfinding the open outlet. Thenmy father rising, papers falling,my mother rushing, calling. She saidit happened, but I could nothave remembered; I was only two.Yet, I can still see the way the lightseemed to pull the roses and ivyfrom the walls. I remember the shock.The way they bolted toward me. ActuallyI don’t remember that, onlythe shadows that pulled me, memorydrifting like smoke. Both gone,now, the moment is mine alone,a show of slides to arrangewhen I need to see them, the framesshuffling to capture the timewhen it happened—or didn’t.